Willamette Locks receives appropriation for reopening locks
An Oregon lottery bonding bill, HB 5534 (2021), appropriates $7,250,000 for restoration and reopening of the Willamette Falls Locks. Also, HB 2564 establishes the Willamette Falls Locks Authority as a public corporation.
The Willamette Falls canal was constructed in the 1870s to allow river traffic to navigate around the forty-foot, horseshoe-shaped basalt ridge between Oregon City and West Linn on the Willamette River. In 1915, the US Army Corps of Engineers purchased the locks. The locks were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The locks were deemed non-operational in December 2011. Senate Bill 131 (2015) established the Task Force on the Willamette Falls Navigation Canal and Locks to gather information related to the locks, including their current and potential future value. In 2017, Senate Bill 256 created the Willamette Falls Locks Commission. House Bill 2564 B (2021) establishes the Willamette Falls Locks Authority as a public corporation and sunsets the commission. A public corporation is an entity created by the state to carry out a public mission and provide public services. They are usually granted increased operating flexibility compared to a government entity, while retaining the principles of public accountability. Each is led by a board of directors appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate, and typically is delegated authority through legislation that sets policy and manages operations. The Willamette Falls Locks Authority's primary purpose is to establish and exercise operational authority over the Willamette Falls Locks project and its associated properties and facilities. As part of this mission, the authority may create a tax-exempt entity, issue and sell revenue bonds, and enter into financing agreements.
Between the creation of the Willamette Falls Locks Authority (HB 2564) and the lottery bond funding, it was a hugely successful legislative session for the Willamette Falls Locks Commission—the culmination of three years of hard work by commission members and the legislative support staff from Clackamas County, Metro, West Linn and others who have supported the commission's work.
The Willamette Falls Locks Commission has been an Oregon Solutions project since 2017.